Chapter 35 · All-In Night

"Don't touch her." Cole hit the black floor on one knee, one hand planted hard against the table while the other caught Eve around the waist.

The card with her name on it snapped through the air and buried itself in the table between them. Red lines crawled across the paper. Eve's blood. Her contract. Her name.

And the door behind her slammed shut.

Eve grabbed Cole's sleeve. "Let go."

"Not happening."

"Cole, listen to me."

"You said not to trust what I saw. Then the deck wrote your name in blood. Start explaining."

The black room had no walls he could see. Just a round table, three chairs, and a ceiling packed with hundreds of dim cards. They hung face-down like dead bats. Every card gave off a faint, sickly pulse.

Silas Quinn stood across the table with one hand pressed to his chest. His gray coat was torn at the shoulder. Blood ran from his nose, but he still looked more annoyed than hurt.

"You dragged us into the Midnight Field," Quinn said. "You don't get to demand explanations."

Cole pulled Eve closer when the floor shifted under their boots. Her back hit his chest.